Dec. 8 open house to showcase state’s first behavioral health training site

The Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska (BHECN) will host an open house on Dec. 8, from 3 to 5 p.m. to celebrate the opening of the state’s first behavioral health training site.

 

Located at 415 S. 25^th Ave. in Omaha, the Interprofessional Education Center is a focal point for a new hospital-based model to support training of Nebraska’s students and medical residents in psychiatry. The center is housed in partnership with Alegent Health’s 64-bed Lasting Hope Recovery Center, which provides in-patient services.

 

In July, the Interprofessional Education Center accepted its first students and will ultimately accept 26 to support BHECN’s statewide goal of further developing Nebraska’s behavioral health workforce. Students and residents from nursing, medicine, pharmacy and social work from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, University of Nebraska at Omaha and Creighton University Medical Center began clinical training in the center.

 

The goal is to increase the number and competency of behavioral health workforce in Nebraska, as well as provide statewide access of behavioral health providers.

 

“The training model will ultimately benefit people in need of the behavioral health services in communities across Nebraska,” said Susan Boust, M.D., medical director for BHECN and an associate professor and vice-chair for external affairs in the UNMC Department of Psychiatry. “We’re thrilled to launch our first site. The model not only will provide competencies needed in behavioral health but also will teach students and residents how to work as a team.

 

“Right now, education and training of health professionals occurs within each health discipline. The first time many students work with other health professionals is after graduation. Good teamwork is an essential part of care, improves quality of care and reduces costs,” Dr. Boust said.

 

One BHECN charge, established in July 2009 by a directive from the Nebraska Legislature, is to reform the state’s behavioral health educational system and move from institutional care to community-based, interdisciplinary community care, with an emphasis on the recovery model of services and treatment.

 

BHECN collaborates with the six behavioral health care regions in Nebraska. In its its second year, the organization continues to support and facilitate the recruitment, education, training and retention of a highly competent behavioral health workforce in Nebraska. Its partners include academic institutions, behavioral health professionals, community service providers, peer support providers, and consumers and their family members.

 

For more information about BHECN, go to: www.unmc.edu/BHECN.